


Bleeding Heart

by Anonymous



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-04-06 06:54:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14051403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: The most frustrating thing was that Cissnei had seen it coming from a mile away and still couldn't do anything about it.





	Bleeding Heart

The most frustrating thing was that she'd seen it coming from a mile away and still couldn't do anything about it.

The assignment had come from Director Lazard. A simple surveillance detail. "You're to keep an eye on Zack Fair, the new SOLDIER 1st Class," Tseng said, pushing a brief across his desk.

_Why?_ was on the tip of Cissnei's tongue before she remembered. "This is related to the incident with Hewley, isn't it?"

Tseng gave her a measured look; she could never tell if he disapproved of her questions. "The company can't afford another disaster," he said.

No, it couldn't, not after Rhapsodos and Hewley. Lose another 1st, and tongues would start wagging. There was only so much ShinRa's PR department could do; sometimes Cissnei wondered at how much they'd done already.

"Will this be a problem?" Tseng said.

"No," Cissnei said, took the folder, and left. No questions, she reminded herself. Just do your job, keep it clean. Don't get distracted, not by Zack's charm or good looks, not by his easy humor and that _ridiculous_ hair, and definitely not by the way he moved, all chaos and explosions and powerful grace. She'd see him fight before; he was good at it. Threw himself right into the fray and gave neither himself nor his enemies enough time to think. No plan at his back, but no fear either. It was all or nothing for him.

It was as dangerous a way to fight as it was effective. It was also completely anathema to the Turks. They didn't have the stamina, or the strength, to come out alive from those kinds of battles. In the Turks, you had to have a Plan A, a Plan B, and a Plan C. Occasionally a Plan D, and when things really heated up, a Plan Reno, which usually involved questionable explosives and ribald jokes.

Don't get distracted, she reminded herself, day after day, week after week of surveillance. First rule of the Turks. Everyone learned it early on, whether from experience or from Reno.

She'd gotten it from Reno herself, which made her situation that much worse.

"Rule number one," he'd said to her in the lounge, her second week on the job. "Your job's your life. Don't get distracted, not unless you wanna end up like Valentine."

"Valentine?" Cissnei said, rotating a shoulder uncomfortably. Her new suit felt tight and stiff across her back. "What is this, some kind of joke?"

"He's a Turk from way back." Reno tossed his nightstick into the air and caught it on the way down before pointing it at her, reminding her of nothing more than a melodramatic weasel. "Total bleeding heart."

"He fell in love with one of his clients," Rude said.

"Dabbled with her, and see where that got him?"

Rude grunted. "They never found his body."

"Probably because it's in the Lifestream," Cissnei said, unimpressed. "That's what bodies do after a while, you know. They _disappear_."

Reno shot her a dirty glare for messing up his act. "Look, rookie --"

She bristled. "The name's Cissnei."

"Look, _Cissnei_ \--"

"Heads up, the boss," Rude said, putting an end to the discussion.

It was a joke, putting the words of wisdom in Reno's mouth of all places. Still, they'd stuck the same way Reno did, like a bad stench that wouldn't go away, no matter how many times you aired out your flat.

Fat lot of good his advice did her in the end though, Cissnei thought as she tailed Zack out of HQ to the station, where he stood, waiting for the train that would take him down to Sector 5 and into the waiting arms of a flower girl. You could rationalize all you liked, but the heart had its own desires.


End file.
